Charles & Keith

The unimaginable has happened (that's what I think at least!). (Sorry if this is old news, as the deal was made official in November last year and officially announced in March. I kind of procrastinated blogging for quite awhile. I was bored.) Our homegrown brand has just been bought over by French luxury giant LVMH. Charles and Keith sold 20% stake to L Capital Asia, the private equity arm of LVMH, for more that $30 million. In fact LVMH was not alone, other contenders include various private equity funds, high net worth investors and a manufacturing firm. It was said that L Capital Asia won the deal with the promise of helping Charles & Keith pave its way into the Chinese market, citing Sephora as a success story. According to CFO, business has grown at a compounded annual rate of 28% for the past decade. Having witnessed how tourists flocked into Charles & Keith stores, I am not surprise. It is as if the shoes are free-- shoe boxes are thrown everywhere, shop assistants are panting and running in and out of the storerooms, trying to keep up with fickle-minded shoppers. I am not exaggerating, this is a typical scene at Wisma Atria outlet. I know Indonesians are nuts over the brand, I heard Taiwanese are as gaga too. I believe most Singaporeans have seen for themselves how the brand has grown from a relative-unknown to a local-powerhouse and now an international shoe brand backed by the most powerful luxury brand in the world. I remember those days when we compare Charles & Keith to other local shoe brands like URS, now there is simply no room for comparison. Charles & Keith has already finished the race, whereas many have not reached half the mark, and others surrendered. During the days of major revamp, we had our fair share of complaints-- that Charles & Keith is trying too hard to look luxurious. From those gigantic door that are too heavy for the arms and to those shimmery shoe racks that are too glaring to the eyes. We all know in our hearts, those things pretty to the eyes will be painful to the wallet. Good thing they took our feedback as a pinch of salt, because now we are convinced that change is good. If you are an avid follower of such news, I bet shopping at Charles and Keith will never be the same again. However I do wonder if it is able to change my mindset of 'never to be caught carrying a Charles & Keith clutch for a black-tie event'. :p